NORTHERN PLANNER

I mentioned some rubbish about being a former swimmer recently. I'm not a former planner yet, but I bet there would be some habits and quirks that would be difficult to shake off.

Being a planning strategy type is obviously a mix of skills, but I think it is really a whole mind-set, a way of being.

Of course you can learn the skills, but the mindset takes longer……………….

Never really stopping working, in the back of your mind you're always collecting new bits of information and new frames of reference.

You're confidently ego free. Less interested in having a killer observation or thought and much more passionate in spotting one from others and building on it. At the same time, you're ready to fight for the right direction when you know it has been arrived at, but always with a mix of reasoned evidence and passion.

You love facts but you know they don't win arguments, so you're really good at pushing the right buttons of the people around you, not just the target audience.

You know what the right direction might be straight away without knowing why. Much of your project work is understanding why, and getting other people to tell why you're barking up the wrong tree.

You're like Neo in the Matrix, you know all the rules, all the processes and schools of thought. So much so you can bend the rules whenever it's required.

You're really good at making people think of whatever outcome you're looking for, all by themselves.

You wait for everyone else to speak then throw in a couple of grenades to totally transform the debate.

You tend not to get ruffled when things are not very fair, but you quietly find a way to change your situation.